#Alone we are strong together we are stronger tattoo professional#

#Alone we are strong together we are stronger tattoo professional#

Fast forward to present day, and you find co-founder David Steele nearing his 20th year as a professional tattoo artist. Within a few years, music sales phased out, and they became a tattoo shop exclusively. 'Joke's on them: They could have had 16 years of well-paying tenants!' 'I still drive by a lot of those buildings that didn't give us a chance 16 years ago, and there are still 'For Rent' signs in their windows,' says Schauffele. Joke's on them: They could have had 16 years of well-paying tenants!' Finally, we lucked out with a generous landlord on the corner of 26th and Peach streets who didn't care what moved in as long as we paid our rent! I still drive by a lot of those buildings that didn't give us a chance 16 years ago, and there are still 'For Rent' signs in their windows. 'We looked at well over 20 different rental spaces and as soon as they either saw us or heard what we were looking to open, the doors were slamming shut on us. 'We had the idea of opening up a tattoo shop/record store, something that appealed more to our punk rock do-It-yourself generation of the time, as Erie didn't have a ton to offer those demographics,' Schauffele explains. Eric Michael Schauffele (known to his friends as 'EMS') told me about the shop's genesis with tattoo artist David Steele. In 2000, on the corner of 26th and Peach Streets, Surprise Attack Records opened its doors, as well as a new shop called Ink Assassins. It's no coincidence, then, that one of the best shops in town started out as a music store. Both are birthed out of rebellion and individual expression and both have their legacies, splinter groups, and subgenres. The happier and more numerous your clients are, the better you'll do. Tattooing is, essentially, competitive artistry. Volumes could be written on each artist, as a majority of them are incredibly hardworking men and women.

There are over a dozen tattoo shops in Erie.

The tattoo industry here in Erie is world class, and has been growing and evolving for years. But there's another scene that's burning just as brightly, and possibly more so. You'll often hear about Erie's burgeoning music or fine arts scenes.